There are many who realized Tony worked for Magna early on and remained into the Mark 5 era.
He doesn’t have any Shopsmith patents in his name that I found but it is something I am seeking to document if anything exists. He holds patents for many other products including the FoxJet, Fox SuperShop Multi-Purpose Power Tool 4,349,945, Jet Boat Propulsion Devices 3,187,708 an Inboard Jet Boat Propulsion Device 3,478,712, a Spray Fiberglass Gun, Trash Compactor Bailing Machine 4,041,856 and other devices.
I believe he was actually an engineer in Magna Production quality control at one point, a production machinist at one point, and had ties in marketing ideas such as the chrome machine which he was given when he left Magna.
Tony was a real entrepreneur and a promoter of his ideas. He proposed a wood / light metal working machine while at Magna. They were already facing the invasion of the Chinese knock-off clones and could not imagine building a machine even more expensive than the Mark 5 at that time. Tony left and patented that machine himself.
I found a YouTube link to a video where he and Bill Leer of LeerJet are discussing another of his inventions; the FoxJet Corporate Jet. In the video, Bill Lear orders a Jet from Tony. Later in the video, Tony walks down a row of patented inventions and inventions he worked on. As he passes the Fox SuperShop you see the Chromed Shopsmith 10ER alongside it as he continues walking.
Tony gave the chromed unit to his best friend, who subsequently was severely injured in a car wreck. Some years later in failing health, it went to another gentleman in Bloomington, Minnesota from whom I acquired it last year, picking it up last weekend.
He never turned it on as he discovered the aging power cord and motor cord were aged and cracking which I confirmed.
It is in good physical condition generally other than the power cords, and the fact the bearings have not spun under power in many years. They rotate cleanly enough, so I suspect they will be fine. I will not only replace the power and motor cords, but the motor leads inside the end-bell to the windings, and completely disassemble and rebuild it as required.
I will work on it in the coming months and try to document the repairs. I was very pleased to locate it, and have the opportunity to preserve this one of a kind piece of Shopsmith history.
Here is a link to the YouTube video with Bill Leer and Tony Fox. Again it is really old and in low resolution. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=oh6bOa7bjSI
Everett
- Chromed 10ER 1.jpeg (106.74 KiB) Viewed 25889 times
- Chromed 10ER 2.jpeg (119.31 KiB) Viewed 25889 times
- Chromed 10ER 3.JPG (84.15 KiB) Viewed 25889 times
- Bob Chambers.png (607.99 KiB) Viewed 25888 times
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